Recipe for success at Cavan Institute

John Timmons is currently in the process of setting up his own outdoor catering business, an opportunity he decided to pursue after taking part in the Fáilte Ireland Culinary Skills course at Cavan Institute. The course, which is co-funded by Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Family and Social Affairs, teaches the eight culinary skills and is FETAC level 4 accredited. John learned all the skills he needed to launch his new business on the course and was inspired with the idea for it while on the course, "I identified a niche in the market." John plans to bring his new-found catering skills to workers in business and retail parks, which are not well-serviced with food outlets. As well as teaching him culinary skills, John praised the course because "it gave me an opportunity to go out and do market research, I also hope to be funded." John who is originally from Navan expects to be bringing his service to the business parks around Meath and Cavan. Several other students also have plans to further their culinary careers with three currently on work experience, another planning to launch their own business venture, three more going back to full-time education and four in employment. Daniel Sexton, one of the students who will soon complete the course said: "I don't want to stop here. I want to go to Athlone and hopefully do a two year professional cookery course." The course proved very popular with all of the 17 students following it through to completion despite many of them having no previous experience in the kitchen and the course's full program of study. One of the students, Breda Connolly from Drumalee pointed out: "It's a twelve-month course condensed into four months. It's intense but very enjoyable." Dermot McGreal, the culinary skills instructor, has clearly managed to pass his enthusiasm for cooking onto his students. His talents as a chef and an instructor were the subject of much praise from the course's participants. Dermot himself is modest saying: "The reason I teach is to impart a little bit of my own passion and interest." Last Thursday, the course's participants prepared a full lunch for industry representatives including the Radisson and Slieve Russell hotels, the Orchard Bar and Restaurant in Cavan, the Oriental Palace in Navan and Cavan General's catering department. The impressive spread, which included finger food and a large buffet with a wide variety of salads, two different main courses and a mouthwatering array of delicious desserts, was all prepared from scratch by the students. Their lunch guests were very impressed with the food, which had all been locally sourced. The raspberries in particular were very local, the students picked them from where they were growing wild in front of the Cavan Institute. Una McKeown from the Slieve Russell said: "It's amazing to think that in 16 weeks they can reach this standard." Anne-Marie Blake is the Fáilte Ireland co-ordinator of the course. Most of the participants were from Cavan, something that was important to Fáilte Ireland as Anne-Marie said: "We bring the training course to the people." She has a lot of enthusiasm for the course emphasising the options it opens up for the participants. "There's great progression, they can go on and do 'Earn and Learn' courses. There are so many different opportunities out there, anywhere that serves food." The quality of the facilities available at Cavan Institute was clearly a factor, which helped with running the course. Last week, Fáilte Ireland announced that it is cutting grants previously available to students doing certain training courses, which are funded by the tourism promotion board. Fortunately the funding for the culinary skills course has not been affected and the organisers are currently securing funding for another course in September. Walk-in interviews for the September course will take place at the Cavan Institute on August 18 and 21 in the morning from 10am to 12pm and the afternoon from 2pm to 4pm. For more information or to arrange an interview contact Anne-Marie Blake on 087-3107203.